ST. PAUL, Minn. — A point-of-sale safety check may reduce the risk of patients unsafely receiving a drug for Type 2 diabetes that may increase their risk of heart attack, according to a new study conducted by pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics and scheduled for presentation at the 23rd annual meeting of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy in Minneapolis.

The study found that a POS automated electronic safety edit designed to require prior authorization from a provider for patients using GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia (rosiglitazone) concurrently with an insulin or a nitrate reduced the chances of their receiving the drug, use of which with a nitrate could put them at risk of myocardial ischemia, a condition in which the arteries in the heart become blocked.

For the study, one of Prime’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield clients implemented an edit that required a prior authorization for Avandia if a nitrate drug supply already existed. As a result, between January and June 2009, 168 members had their Avandia claim denied at the POS. Researchers then compared those members with a control group of 222 for whom the safety edit was inactive. After six months, 78.6% of the 168 members in the study group were using a diabetes drug other than Avandia, compared with 25.6% of those in the control group. Thirteen percent of patients in the study group abandoned antidiabetic drug therapy altogether, compared with 15% in the control group.

Sylatron OKed as add-on melanoma treatment

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a treatment made by Merck for treating skin cancer, Merck said Monday.

Merck announced the approval of Sylatron (peginterferon alfa-2b) as an add-on treatment for treating melanoma with microscopic of gross nodal involvement within 84 days of surgery.

“Merck is pleased to offer patients with node-positive melanoma this new option to treat the disease,” Merck VP clinical oncology Eric Rubin said. “This is the first such therapy approved for the adjuvant treatment of melanoma by the FDA in more than 15 years.”

Medco: Antidepressant use may boost adherence among hepatitis C patients

BALTIMORE — Medication adherence among hepatitis C patients may improve when patients take antidepressants, according to a new analysis by pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions presented Monday at the International Conference on Viral Hepatitis.

In a new observational analysis, Medco found that when hepatitis C patients taking interferon treatments with the generic antiviral drug ribavirin alsowere treated for depression — a common side effect of interferon use — they more likely were to be compliant. Overall, 46% of patients with hepatitis C take antidepressants. Interferons are biotech drugs commonly used to treat hepatitis and include Genentech’s Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a) and Merck’s PegIntron (peginterferon alfa-2b).

“A common side effect of interferon is depression, but little research has been done looking at the impact of treating depression on a patient’s adherence with their hepatitis C medications,” Medco Advanced Clinical Science and Research Group director of clinical innovation Mary Cassler said. “These findings point to the need to proactively screen patients on interferon for depression and make sure that those who show signs of depression receive the proper interventions.”

According to the study, about 40% of patients with the virus who had been prescribed the drugs were not compliant, putting them at risk of the disease progressing due to their failure to eliminate the virus. At the same time, patients taking antidepressants had the highest rates of adherence. Among patients with hepatitis C and HIV, the rate of adherence was even higher, with 77.3% of those taking antidepressants complying with their interferon therapy.

RELATED NEWS

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic of Hoffman-La Roche’s Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate) capsules from Lupin. The company’s generic will be available in 30-, 45- and 75-mg dosage strengths.
The product is inficated to treat acute, uncomplicated influenza A and B in patients 2 weeks of age and older, as well as to prevent influenza A and B in patients 1 year old and older. The drug had U.S. sales of roughly $467.8 million for the 12 months ended October 2017, according to IQVIA data.

Behavioral health pharmacy and telepsychiatry company Genoa, a QoL Healthcare Company, has reached a big number with its remote psychiatry offering. The Tukwila, Wash.-based company announced Tuesday that it had facilitated more than 100,000 telepsych consultations on its video conferencing platform.
Genoa attributes the milestone to its recent buildup of its telepsychiatry operations, which grew to include 35 in 2017 from 20 at the start of the year, and included 250 providers. In 2017, the company grew to serve more than 2,500 patients per week.

This year's flu continues to be Texas big, according to the Walgreens Flu Index released Wednesday, as the top 10 communities experiencing the greatest amount of flu incidence were all located in the Lone Star State for the week ended Jan. 6.
Iowa, Idaho and Arkansas rank behind Texas in terms of flu activity. And Montana, Idaho and Iowa ranked highest among states experiencing flu activity gains.

Amneal Biosciences has launched its generic of Otsuka’s Busulfex (busulfan injection, 6 mg/ml). The product is indicated to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia.
Amneal said that its generic is available in cartons of eight single-dose vials, each of which contains 60 mg of the drug in a 10-ml clear sterile solution. The product is made without natural rubber, latex, gluten or preservatives, Amneal said.
The drug had U.S. sales of roughly $80 million for the 12 months ended October 2017, according to data from IQVIA.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals has launched sevelamer carbonate tablets, 800 mg, in 270-count bottles. This generic from the Bridgewater, N.J.-based company is an AB-rated therapeutic equivalent to Renvela.
Amneal also launched five other products in addition to sevelamer carbonate:

Forgotten Password

Registration complete

REGISTER

USERNAME *

Spaces are allowed; punctuation is not allowed except for periods, hyphens, and underscores.

E-MAIL ADDRESS *

A valid e-mail address. All e-mails from the system will be sent to this address. The e-mail address is not made public and will only be used if you wish to receive a new password or wish to receive certain news or notifications by e-mail.

Password *

Confirm Password *

Please choose a password for your account; it must be 8 - 30 characters. .

First Name *

Last Name *

Company Name *

Job Title *

ZIP *

Are you a *

Retailer or Healthcare professional

Non-Retailer

How many stores do you operate?: *

Which best describes the business/industry you work in?: *

Which best describes your job title?: *

Please select the newsletters you would like to subscribe to

DSN A.M.
Daily news stories covering the retail drug industry

Breaking News
First-to-the-market with developing stories in the industry